Autograph Letters

Printed postcard, signed.

Author: 
Alfred Perceval Graves
Publication details: 
c.1901
£45.00

Irish Author (1846-1931). The postcard indicates his willingness to act as a steward at the Annual Dinner of the Incorporated Society of Authors, with his name in full , address, and a note questioning whetehr he can make it, all in Graves's hand. Small hole marginally affects handwritten text.

DRAFT Autograph letter, third person ("The Att[orney]. Gen[eral]. for Ireland")

Author: 
[ Hugh Law ]
Publication details: 
[House of Commons stamp], [June 1881?]
£105.00

See DNB. Two pages, 8vo, sl. stained and with remains of glue for laying down, text clear and complete as follows: "The Att. Gen. of Ireland desires to correct a passage in his answer to Mr J. McCarthys question No. 8[.] Omit 'some time after the Eviction Lord Annaly directed the dwelling h[ou]s[e] to be pulled down & the roof was after[war]ds burned off'- and insert instead - 'Lord Annalys agent states t[ha]t he hasno knowledge of Mrs [M Dermots?] home being [?] burned - and does not believe it was'- Note: The date "June 1881" has been aded in another hand and in pencil.

Autograph Letter Signed to <Brodie?>.

Author: 
Hugh Law
Publication details: 
Monday 15 Feb.' (no year); on embossed letterhead of the Union Club, Trafalgar Square.
£25.00

Lord Chancellor of Ireland (1818-83). Two pages, 12mo. Creased and grubby, and with two small holes in embossment. He cannot avail himself of his correspondent's kind invitation for dinner the following day as he has 'an engagement I may not postpone or disregard'. He should have been happy to meet Mr and Mrs <?>, 'as well as to spend a pleasant evening with you'. Signed 'H. Law'.

Autograph Signature on fragment of letter.

Author: 
John Bruce Richard O'Neill (1780-1855), 3rd Viscount O'Neill, Irish General and politician, Constable of Dublin Castle
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£32.00

On piece of paper roughly one and a half inches by three wide. Small tear in top left-hand corner not affecting signature. Reads 'Your Obed Hue Servt | [signature] O'Neill | Lieut General'. On reverse '<...> he had his discharge to <...> | <...> allowed something he had <...>'.

Autograph Note Signed ('F. Cavendish') to unnamed female correspondent.

Author: 
Lord Frederick Charles Cavendish (1836-82), murdered by the Irish National Invincibles in Phoenix Park, Dublin
Publication details: 
16 August 187<?>; on embossed letterhead 'Holker Hall, Carke-in-Cartmel, Carnforth.'
£50.00

One page, 12mo. Good, with blank second leaf of bifolium mounted on larger piece of card, which is docketed with biographical information. Right-hand side of leaf very slightly cropped, resulting in loss of last digit of year. Bold, clear signature. Reads 'Madam. | According to your request I beg to sign myself | Your obedt Servt | F. Cavendish'.

Autograph Letter Signed to [?] Brougham.

Author: 
John Henry Bernard
Publication details: 
21 June 1900; on letterhead of Trinity College, Dublin.
£38.00

Irish churchman and philosopher (1860-1927). Four pages, 12mo. Good, though grubby and a tad spotted, and with remains of previous mount adhering to lower-half of verso of second leaf of bifoliate (not affecting text). Begins 'My dear Brougham | I have read over the article in the Gazette on SPG, and have ascertained that Mr. White had nothing, directly or indirectly, to say to it. I think that the scope of the article precluded any mention of individual workers of recent years, as it was meant to give a general view.

Autograph Letter Signed to "S. Scott".

Author: 
William B. MacCabe.
Publication details: 
29 Upper Belgrave Place, 28 Dec. 1846.
£45.00

Irish author and historian (1801-1891). 2pp., 8vo, good. He intended to deliver his book personally as an expression of his feelings of friendship and admiration for his correspondent. He recollects Scott’s “kindness to the family of poor Lemaitre . . .” and to himself. He asks Scott to accept the book which he has obviously sent instead.

Autograph Letter Signed to an unnamed secretary of state.

Author: 
Colonel James Francis Erskine, of the Regiment of Swiss Chasseurs
Publication details: 
7 March 1783; 'Kensington gravell Pitts'.
£125.00

Erskine, who died in 1806, was the grandson of the 27th Earl of Mar. 3 pages, 8vo. In very good condition. The letter, addressed to 'your Excellency', concerns 'The Honble. Captain Cunningham who had resigned a Troop of Dragoons on the Irish Establishment to go upon Service with the same rank in my unfortunate Regiment of Swiss Chasseurs'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J. H. Foley') to [L. W.] Field.

Author: 
John Henry Foley (1818-1874), Irish sculptor best known for his statues of General Andrew 'Stonewall' Jackson and of Prince Albert in the Albert Memorial
Publication details: 
27 April 1868; on letterhead 10, Osnaburgh Street, Regent's Park. N.W. [London].
£86.00

Two pages, 12mo. Very good on lightly aged paper, and with the blank second leaf of the bifolium laid down on part of a leaf detached from an autograph album. Thanks him 'for the votes [of election to the Royal Academy?] which through your kindness I received to-day'. He is glad Field has been able to give Dr Armitage 'a hint that his assistance will be required as well as the assistance of others to insure the Election of young Lloyd'.

Autograph note signed to unknown correspondent (name inked out!).

Author: 
Aubrey de Vere.
Publication details: 
Athenaeum Club, 13 June (no year).
£45.00

Irish poet (1788-1846). Two pages, 12mo, good except for inked out correspondent. "I have only this moment received your note. I am so very sorry, but most unluckily I have a dinner engagment for Wednesday the 17. . . .[signature, etc.][PS] Meeting the Gladstones at your house would have been very like the old times. I am quite put out at the accident that prevents it."

Autograph Note Signed to John Streatfield (Home Office).

Author: 
Sir Maziere Brady.
Publication details: 
Dublin, 13 Feb. 1869.
£35.00

Lord Chancellor of Ireland (1796-1871). One page, 8vo, marginal damage. He thanks Streatfield for having his “Patent packed & despatched”,announcing its arrival.

Autograph Note Signed ('Plunket') to Dr Heffernan.

Author: 
William Conyngham Plunket, 1st Baron Plunket (1764-1854), Lord Chancellor of Ireland
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£45.00

16mo, 1 p, 5 lines. Gilt-edged bifolium, laid down by small strip of inner margin of verso of second leaf to square of paper cut from autograph album. The mount docketed in a contemporary hand. Good, with remains of red wax seal broken in two and adhering to verso of second leaf, which carries the address to 'Doctor Heffernan | &c &c' (franked 'P'). Reads 'Dear Sir | will you be so good as to call in here at any time this morning most convenient to you | Yours &c | [signed] Plunket'. Small ink smudge by Plunket in right margin.

Typed Letter Signed ('O Locker Lampson') to unnamed female correspondent.

Author: 
Commander Oliver Locker-Lampson (1880-1954), Conservative MP for North Huntingdonshire (1910-22) and Handsworth (1922-45) [Hands Off Britain "Clear out the Reds" Campaign; communism; anti-communist]
Publication details: 
Undated; on letterhead of the 'Hands Off Britain "Clear out the Reds" Campaign', St. Stephen's House, Westminster.
£56.00

4to, 1 p, 9 lines. On behalf of his 'Committee' acknowledging his correspondent's 'kind letter with its generous contribution to the funds of our Campaign', adding 'a message of individual thanks from myself to you for your mostt encouraging support'. 'Our Campaign is prospering, and we hope soon to complete our success by the early expulsion of the Reds.' His correspondent's 'welcome help' is of 'great value'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Alfred Fouillée, Membre de l'Institut'), in French, to unnamed male correspondent.

Author: 
Alfred Fouillée [Alfred Jules Emile Fouillée] (1838-1912), French sociologist and philosopher [solidarism; solidarist; André Beaumier]
Publication details: 
13 March 1902; 'Menton, villa Fouillée'.
£85.00

12mo, 2 pp, 13 lines. Good, on lightly aged paper. He is sending his reply (not present) to an article by André Beaumier 'qui me concerne (Figaro du 11 mars)'. The question of university reform is important and 'à l'ordre du jour', consequently he asks his correspondent to make use of his reply. Fouillee was, according to J. A. Scott, 'the founder of French solidarist philosophy'. Loosely inserted in blue paper folder with catalogue entry for the previous sale of the item laid down on front.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Louis Havet, professeur au Collège de France, 16 place Vendôme') to 'Monsieur le Directeur du Journal de Bruxelles, Belgique'.

Author: 
Louis Havet (1849-1925), French philologist whose classical library was acquired by the University of California
Publication details: 
14 May 1889; Paris.
£65.00

12mo, 1 p, 14 lines. Good, on light-brown paper, with the address, stamps, and postmarks on the reverse. In French. He sends his thanks to the 'Journal de Bruxelles' for reproducing his 'article sur la réforme de l'orthographe'. He is sending a petition (not present) which 'en ce moment ce couvre de signatures à Paris', and will be personally grateful if his correspondent can see to it that it is reproduced 'avec les indications qui l'accompagnent'. Loose in blue paper folder with catalogue entry for the previous sale of the letter laid down on front.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Frank O. Salisbury') to 'Our most dear friends' [Mr and Mrs Holiday, perhaps Henry George Alexander Holiday?].

Author: 
Frank Salisbury [Frank Owen Salisbury; Frank O. Salisbury; Francis Owen Salisbury] (1874-1962), English artist [Henry George Alexander Holiday (1839-1927), painter and stained-glass artist?; cenotaph]
Publication details: 
1 December 1920; on letterhead of 62 Avenue Road, Regent's Park, London N.W.
£85.00

4to, 2 pp. Text clear and entire on lightly aged and creased paper. Explaining how disappointed he and his wife Maude were 'not to be able to get up to see the Windsor week end'. Salisbury was 'kept at home by people who wanted to see the Victoria Frescoes before they go to India'. He has been 'working on them night & day' as he received 'a cable message requesting four to be up in their positions for the Duke of Connaught's visit in January to the Memorial.

Printed communication, signed 'd'Hozier', to Monsieur Boucher.

Author: 
Ambroise-Louis-Marie d'Hozier (1764-1841), genealogist, 'Vérificateur des Armoiries de France'.
Publication details: 
10 June 1823; Paris.
£35.00

4to, 1 p, 12 lines. Text clear and entire, on creased paper. Printed in copperplate. Requesting subscription money due for his 'Indicateur Nobiliaire'. Good firm signature.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J. de la Gournerie') to an unnamed male correspondent ('Mon cher ami').

Author: 
Jules de la Gournerie [Jules Antoine René Maillard de la Gournerie] (1814-1883), French mathematician and engineer, member of the Academie des Sciences
Publication details: 
22 July 1870; Ecole Impériale Polytechnique.
£45.00

12mo, 1 p, 7 lines. Good, on lightly aged paper. He has received at the Ecole Polytechnique ('où je passe toutes mes journées les examens') his correspondent's 'important travail'. He sends his best wishes and thanks him for 'ce beau souvenir'. Loose in blue paper folder with catalogue entry for the previous sale of the letter laid down on front.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J. de la Gournerie') to 'Monsieur Pingard'.

Author: 
Jules de la Gournerie [Jules Antoine René Maillard de la Gournerie] (1814-1883), French mathematician and engineer, member of the Académie des Sciences
Publication details: 
27 October 1875; Martigné.
£45.00

16mo, 3 pp. Text clear and entire on aged, creased paper. In French. He was not able to go to the Académie on the day the tickets were distributed for the 'Séance annuelle des beaux arts'. He asks for his two tickets to be sent to his friend 'M. Canon', a professor at the Ecole Polytechnique. Canon's address ('29 Rue Jean de Beauvais') in another hand on otherwise-blank verso of second leaf of bifolium.

12 Typed Letters Signed (all 'W Barnard Faraday') to Sir Henry Wood, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts, and his colleague G. K. Menzies.

Author: 
Wilfred Barnard Faraday (1874-1953), economist and aeronautics expert [Royal Aeronautical Society of Great Britain]
Publication details: 
3 February 1917 to 11 October 1918; all but two on letterheads of the Royal Aeronautical Society of Great Britain.
£100.00

One of the letters is 4to, 2 pp; ten are 4to, 1 p; and one is foolscap, 1 p. The collection is in good condition, on lightly aged paper. Many of the letters are docketed and most bear the Society's dated stamp. Written in the capacity of Secretary of the Aeronautical Society, and editor of its 'Official Organ - The Aeronautical Journal'. Topics include the hiring of the Royal Society's hall for two series of talks to the Aeronautical Society. Faraday also discusses the details of a lecture by 'Mr.

Autograph Letter Signed, a reference for Robert Abraham.

Author: 
Edward I'Anson (1775-1853), surveyor and architect [Robert Abraham (1775-1850), architect]
Publication details: 
26 April 1825; Laurence Pountney Lane, London.
£150.00

4to, 1 p, 7 lines. Text clear and entire on lightly aged and discoloured paper. Nicely connecting two notable nineteenth-century London architects. I'Anson has 'great pleasure in stating from long and intimate personal acquaintance with Mr Robert Abraham that his experience Talent and integrity qualify him to fill any office connected with his profession creditably to himself and beneficially to his patrons'. Docketed on reverse of second leaf of bifolium 'No 9 | Edwd I'Anson Esq'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Geo. Hartley') to 'G. Woolcott Esqre'.

Author: 
Reverend George Hartley (Methodist preacher?) [George Woolcott (English architect?); acoustic; acoustics]
Publication details: 
17 March 1825; 19 Charlotte Street, Portland Place, London.
£95.00

4to, 4 pp. Very good on lightly aged paper. Hartley has 'attentively considered' Woolcott's 'plans for your New Church with reference to an opinion of their merits as being calculated to assist the Human Voice in Rhetorical delivery'. He is 'so little of an Architect as to be unable to assist my observations with the technical terms which would facilitate the meaning of my observations', but he will give them as clearly as he can, speaking from his 'long experience in Public Delivery in (I may say) almost all kinds of enclosed spaces'.

Letter, in a secretarial hand, in French, with what is said to be the illegible signature of Lacretelle [to Lenormand?].

Author: 
Charles Lacretelle le jeune [Jean Charles Dominique de Lacretelle] (1766-1855), historian [Léonce Lenormand, editor of the 'Journal de Saône-et-Loire']
Publication details: 
1 September 1853; place not stated.
£56.00

12mo, 2 pp, 32 lines. Good. Docketed in a nineteenth-century hand in pencil in top left-hand corner 'Lacretelle (Charles) à Lenormand, réd. du J. de Saone & Loire à Mâcon' and in another hand 'Acad. Fr'. Asks to be verbally informed of the news of 'Mr. Ochier, à supposer qu'il vous eut enfin révélé le motif de son long silence au milieu des prodiges qui s'opérent aujourd'hui pour les moyens de communication entre les deux hémisphères, je n'aurais jamais pensé que celle de Mâcon et de Cluny, présentassent de telles difficultés'.

Typed Letter Signed ('J B. Priestley') to 'My dear Minney'.

Author: 
J. B. Priestley
Publication details: 
7 Dec. 1939; on letterhead of Billingham Manor, Isle of Wight.
£56.00

12mo, 1 p. Very good. He hopes she will bring her paper out soon, 'as there is room' for it, 'especially if you are careful to steer clear of mere nonsense'. Asks her to ask her 'paper' to send the cheque to him, 'and not to Peters, as he had no hand in the transaction'. He 'travelled 2,500 miles doing those articles on our war-time effort', and is 'now very glad to be back home, picking up the threads of my own work again'. He has just finished 'a comedy', and hopes 'to start another soon'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Bob. Crosby') to 'Dear Ken' [Ken Ryan].

Author: 
Bob Crosby (1913-1993), American dixieland bandleader and vocalist, best known for his group 'Bob Crosby and the Bob Cats'
Publication details: 
New Years Eve, 1955.' On letterheads of The Aladdin Hotel, Kansas City, Missouri.
£56.00

4to, 4 pp. Good, on lightly creased paper. From the Ken Ryan collection. Long, rambling, good-humoured letter on the . 'Here it is New Years Eve and I'm at home, and being quiet. - I was tired as we have worked hard all week. - and its good to be quiet. [...] London must have been interesting during the holiday season - I hope to some day see it but when I ever will is the question I'm never to [sic] good to save money. - Next week we have the Monte Carlo Ballet. Russe. and I am looking forward to seeing it. with pleasure. I've always been so fond of ballet.'

Letter in a secretarial hand, Signed by Méline ('J. Méline') as 'Président du Conseil' and 'Ministre de l'Agriculture', to 'Monsieur le Général Tournier | Secrétaire Général de la Présidence de la République'.

Author: 
Félix Jules Méline [Felix Jules Meline] (1838-1925), French Prime Minister, 1896-1898 [Tournier]
Publication details: 
13 February 1897; Paris, on letterhead of 'République Française | Présidence du Conseil | Cabinet du Président'.
£120.00

8vo, 1 p, 13 lines. Very good on lightly aged and creased paper. Docketed in red pencil in another hand. Lists the names of three couples, 'appartenant au cercle de mes relations', who would dearly like to receive 'invitations pour les fétes données au Palais de l'Elysee'. Méline would be 'vivement heureux' if Tournier could give 'satisfaction' to this desire. A good firm signature on a document written during Méline's term as French President.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J. I Lockhart) to 'Isaac Espinasse Esq one of the Benchers of the H. S. of Grays Inn &c. &c &c -'.

Author: 
John Ingram Lockhart [John Wastie from 1832] (c.1765-1835), Radical Member of Parliament for the City of Oxford [Isaac Espinasse (1758-1834)] [Robert Nares (1753-1829)?]
Publication details: 
Tubney Lodge, Abingdon'. Undated [on paper watermarked 'BUTTANSHAW | 1809'].
£45.00

4to, 1 p. Good, though lightly aged and creased. He apologises for the liberty he takes in addressing Espinasse 'as one of the Benchers of Grays Inn', and hopes it is not 'wholly improper' for him 'to say a word in favor of Mr Nares, and [sic] old fellow Colegian [sic] of mine [Lockhart was educated at University College, Oxford], who is a candidate for the Chaplaincy of your Society'. Describes Nares as 'an honorable & learned man, a good divine, exceedingly well connected'. Considers that he 'will prove [...] an acquisition to the Society'.

Autograph Note Signed ('E. de Jonquieres'), on visiting card, to 'Monsieur Lalanne, Conservateur de la Bibliothèque de l'Institut'.

Author: 
Ernest de Jonquières (1820-1901), French naval officer and mathematician [Léon Lalanne [Léon Louis Chrétien Lalanne] (1811-1892), French engineer and mathematician]
Publication details: 
9 July 1886; Paris.
£56.00

Written on both sides of the card, dimensions 5.5 x 9 cm. Good, with a little light scuffing on the front. Communication between two leading lights of French nineteenth-century mathematics. Printed text reads 'VICE-AMIRAL DE JONQUIERES | MEMBRE DE L'INSTITUT | AVENUE BUGEAUD, 2'. Asks Lalanne to 'inscrire Monsieur Bonnaffé, lauréat de l'Institut, parmi les lecteurs'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Leslie Rundle') to 'My dear General'.

Author: 
Leslie Rundle [Sir Henry Macleod Leslie Rundle] (1856-1934), British army officer
Publication details: 
31 July 1904; on letterhead of Government House, York.
£56.00

12mo, 3 pp. Good on lightly-aged paper. He has 'written to the necessary authorities' about his correspondent's son. 'Of course it will largely depend on which Slade [Lt-Gen. Frederick George Slade (b.1851), C.B.] says about him, as I do not know your son personally - though his record reads an exceptionally good one.' He is sorry to hear about his correspondent's brother's death: 'he was always very kind' to Rundle.

Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mr. Nunnez'.

Author: 
Elinor Glyn [born Elinor Sutherland] (1864-1943), English novelist
Publication details: 
15 March [docketed 1936]; on letterhead of 11 Connaught Place, London W.2.
£80.00

8vo, 2 pp. Very good. She has been recovering from influenza at Brighton. 'I think your Paper is going on Splendidly [last word underlined] & I am so glad! [last two words underlined]'. 'Yes, isnt Margaret Ettinger a charming Creature! She told me you had talked together of me'. Asks for Ettinger's address. 'How's the home? - how's the charming wife? - & when shall we discuss the affairs of the world, the flesh, & the devil?!' She is well, 'all but my knee, which has been behaving like an ungrateful child'.

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